Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON LOVE; PART XLIX
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
GoodWill IS Love in Action
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink ? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:34-40).
While it may seem like we have forgotten our verses above which have been at the head of our essays for several days, we have not. We have worked around the edges of these ideas of service which is the context that we want to frame this and most ALL that we do discuss does in some way touch upon this idea. Yesterday we continued in, and expanded upon, our discussion of a group of sayings by the Apostles Paul, John and James that we assembled together to help us in understanding that it is the Spirit of man that brings to his Earthly presence the Wisdom from above which comes as righteous judgement as we saw two essays back and which we KNOW now as right discernment. However, it is only right discernment if it is a man focus upon the Soul who will interpret it through his mind and emotions. It is perhaps this idea of interpretation that is most difficult to understand and of which we said in the last post that:
These words that we have been discussing from Paul, John and James tell us that there are impulses of spiritual import that flow from the Soul and that we, as men in form, interpret them as thoughts and as feelings as this is the way that the human psyche processes information. We are not this psyche, we are not this personality, but we are rather the Soul from whence these impulses flow. This is a difficult thing to comprehend for those who are in somewhat in tune with their own Souls and nearly impossible to comprehend for those in whom the Life of the Soul plays little or no part and this includes many that deem themselves as religious.
We went on from here to address the idea of religion and other key ideas from our essay and here we should come back to address what we say is a difficult thing to comprehend. The man in form is, as we have ofttimes said, a combination of a form, the body and its proclivities and instincts, plus the personality, the mind and the emotional apparatus which are expressed through the body, its brain and its endocrine system. The Life that is in this body is the Life that comes from the Soul and the body is only alive so long as the Soul gives its Life energy to the form; when the Soul withdraws this energy the body is deceased and, as we KNOW, this can happen in a variety of ways. These ways can range from the purposeful withdrawal of the Soul’s energy by choice or perhaps through illness, and we should here remember that the Soul builds the body to the best of his ability based upon his own particular type of energy and his degree of accomplishment in form building, to the accidental death or the violent death that is beyond the control of the Soul in time and space. To this we should add the idea of the form and personality hijacking the Life that the Soul has given and taking it down roads that were likely not the intention of the Soul and in this we should see the various addictions and the resultant mental and emotional problems that ensue; we should here understand that there is much covered in this idea of addiction and by this we intend to say that it is the tendency of any part of the form Life and personality to pursue a way of Life that is detrimental to the Life of the Soul and in which the body or the mind or the emotions are seemingly unstoppable by the other Life and consciousness aspects or the Soul.
We see above the interplay of the form Life and the personality which is the mind and the emotions, and each of these three aspects can be singularly strong in its own right and thereby dictate the the course of the Life and we should note here that it is the form, the body itself that contains the Life force, while the personality can be seen as containing the consciousness and the awareness of that form. Without the consciousness working through the form, without the mind and the emotions working our their own proclivities in the Life of a man, the body is merely a shell and, while alive, it has no ability to respond except by instinct, natural or learned. Here in this interplay can be seen a wide range of human problems from the absence of the conscious personalities link to the body, to any degree of malfunction in either the mental and emotional parts of the Life, or in their ability to communicate thoughts to the brain or emotional impulses to the glandular system.
It is in the context of the ideas above that we say that the quality of the Life of any man in form is dependent upon the Souls ability to build forms, the proclivity of the forms built as based upon the particular intent of any incarnation, and the karmic responsibility that a Soul has to serve. Here then we have the man in form, the body and the personality working together as built by the Soul and then subject to the common realities of Life in the world that are beyond the ability of the Soul to control. To this ALL we give the name of nature which is, as it applies to our theme, the resultant Life in form of all that we have heretofore said and to this then we must add the ideas of nurture as it affects each of these aspects of Life. Nurture is the habits formed, the things learned and the emotions evoked from the day one is born into this world until the day he leaves or overcomes. When the Master tells us that “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) we must understand this as not only the physical environment but the totality of the effects of nature and nurture; it is very important that this is understood; that there is not some demonic enemy that makes one’s Life a difficult choice. The reality is rather as expressed in this created saying that we have modified from a cartoon strip; I have met the enemy and he is me.
We have then a body to which the Soul gives Life and a personality to which the Soul gives consciousness or, as we have said before, lends consciousness. While it is not totally clear why we have chosen this word lend as it refers to consciousness, we can see this in the view that the personality is but using the consciousness to its own benefit or detriment until such time as the Soul can wrest it away from the form Life and put it onto the Path to the Kingdom of God. As we sit and we think, it is the consciousness that is doing so, and this consciousness is under the control of either the worldly personality that cares for its self, or, under the control of the Soul that cares about the things of God; of course there can be a rather constant vacillation between these poles which is sensed and seen by the man who is becoming spiritually awake and thereby sees, feels and lives the duality of Life in form. In this state of duality the True struggle begins and it is here that the realization comes that “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13). Here comes the reality of our frequently used word focus; when the man in form is focused upon the Soul and the Soul Light is allowed to penetrate the Life in form we have the beginning of that transformation which grows in the Life of the man in the world as he becomes more and more able to express this Light in the world. Here we should see also the reality of the oft misunderstood saying by Paul that “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2) the reality of which is that by focus upon the things of God, it is the Soul that becomes the consciousness that is using the form Life and the mind and the emotions. The Soul has wrested away control of the personality, which had heretofore been under the control of the nature and the nurture and the proclivities of the form Life itself; it now comes under the control of the divine part, the True man, the Soul….the Christ Within. This is the transformation of which the apostle speaks and it is this transformation that can and will lead each of us to our own Mount of Transfiguration.
These ideas above, premises if you will, are not intended to be the final word on any of this but are just ideas and premises founded upon what we consider the reality of Life and the words of the Master, His apostles and other world religious and spiritual figures as those we have oft quoted in our essays such as the Buddha and Lord Krishna. We are reminded today of the words of the Tibetan that we have published more than once that tell us of the True discerner of things spiritual which is one’s own Soul working through form and this is the same as we have been writing on for the last several day albeit from a different perspective. The apostles write on the reality of discernment in the Life of the man in form while the Tibetan tells us that this discernment is, for each individual, the way by which one will KNOW the Truth of anything. The Tibetan tells us also that we should ponder these things that come to us for which there is no worldly foundation and we would add here that it can be this very idea of to ponder that focuses one upon the things of God, from whence the clarification can come. We would also add here that there are times when a man will believe such a thing as is presented and not KNOW or understand why and here we must be careful to try to KNOW the source of this tendency to belief and it is here also that the words of James on Wisdom from above play a large role. Things for the self come from the self and the personality in the world while things for God, for the Soul’s Life of righteousness in form come from the Soul and have naught to do with personal gain or achievement. The Tibetan tells us:
The books that I have written are sent out with no claim for their acceptance. They may, or may not, be correct, true and useful. It is for you to ascertain their truth by right practice and by the exercise of the intuition. Neither I nor A.A.B. is the least interested in having them acclaimed as inspired writings, or in having anyone speak of them (with bated breath) as being the work of one of the Masters. If they present truth in such a way that it follows sequentially upon that already offered in the world teachings, if the information given raises the aspiration and the will-to-serve from the plane of the emotions to that of the mind (the plane whereon the Masters can be found) then they will have served their purpose. If the teaching conveyed calls forth a response from the illumined mind of the worker in the world, and brings a flashing forth of his intuition, then let that teaching be accepted. But not otherwise. If the statements meet with eventual corroboration, or are deemed true under the test of the Law of Correspondences, then that is well and good. But should this not be so, let not the student accept what is said. (EXTRACT FROM A STATEMENT BY THE TIBETAN)
As we have said before, it is in this same way that we offer here our ideas and thoughts and it is in this same way that they should be accepted or not. This brings us to another similar saying from the Buddha which I stumbled upon while reviewing some old notes. These notes brought to remembrance that I have been doing what I am doing now for many years. I rediscovered pages upon pages of writing that I barely remember doing as it has been more than thirty years since and I am amazed at the similarity of the ideas that I tried to present then albeit without such aid as the internet affords. What comes to me is what we do say above and have said throughout our essays and that is that the focus of the man can change, it can vacillate from God to mammon, and this is what it is that must eventually be overcome; the cessation of allowing the things of the world to supplant the things of God, which allowing is likely the easier route and the more pleasurable from the perspective of the worldly controlled personality. Our text from the Buddha reads thus:
THE LORD BUDDHA HAS SAID
that we must not believe in a thing said merely because it is said; nor traditions because they have been handed down from antiquity; nor rumors, as such; nor writings by sages, because sages wrote them: nor fancies that we may suspect to have been inspired in us by a Deva (that is, in presumed spiritual inspiration); nor from inferences drawn from some haphazard assumption we may have made; nor because of what seems an analogical necessity; nor on the mere authority of our teachers or masters. But we are to believe when the writing, doctrine, or saying is corroborated by our own reason and consciousness. “For this,” says he in concluding, “I taught you not to believe merely because you have heard, but when you believed of your consciousness, then to act accordingly and abundantly.”
(Secret Doctrine, Vol. III, page 401.)
These sentiments by the Tibetan and by the Buddha are not necessarily going to tell a man what is right and what is wrong except that man is in communication with his own Soul and such communication does not require any great degree of spiritual advancement as most ALL men, even those mired in the ways and the things of the world or the greatness of one’s own self, hear from the Soul in the promptings that we speak so much about. Here we should see this reality as what we have referred to as conscience and we should try to understand that the reality of conscience is difficult to distinguish from the pangs of the personality and hence the danger for man. Until he is able to distinguish these, he is bound in that cycle of believing and knowing which is contrary to the words we read from the Tibetan and the Buddha above. We should here remember that these words above are written to aspirants and disciples and for them, in the Light of the Soul, they work.
We did not get to our saying above again today; we will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
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Aspect of God |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
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Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
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Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
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Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within the Form |
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.:
So that we do not forget that the reality of this ALL is still LOVE which is our Truth regardless of whatever other realizations may come to us in Life, we present here again the Apostle Paul’s words followed by our own understanding of this reality:
….but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:8-10).
The first of all the commandments is, Hear , O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this , Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these
(Mark 12:29-31)
We should remember always to link to this Greatest Commandment that other saying of the Master that gives to us the practical understanding of how to love one’s self plus the practical instruction on how it is that we CAN Love our neighbour; He tells us:
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them
(Matthew 7:12)
Unlike so much of the Master’s sayings that come to us in the form of parables and for which we can only surmise that we have the spiritual presence to understand, these sayings are very straightforward and they are the key to many of the promises of spiritual life; they are the very key to the Kingdom of God. To these sayings we add our adopted definition of the Greek word agape (agapao) which is translated into the English words Love and Charity and which is:
‘In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men’
